lownote

Now sorted. Impressed with the customer service.

Update: Had a further long play this morning. Can't get a decent clean tone out of them and especially the G string is dead. I've gone back to my La Bellas just to check and they're great. @MSL Pro can I return them?

The six string version of the Groove nickel roundwounds. 030 -130

Depends. Horses and courses. Different types of bass have different sounds, and suit different genres. What sort of music are you intending to play / like? You probably deffo want a four string with frets. If you want something simple to get you bedded in straight away I'd recommend a precision type bass. A minimum of controls so you can focus on learning to play and still sound great. If you want an instrument that will grow with you I'd recommend a Sire jazz bass, which allows you to 'dial in' no end of different sounds. Both these can be had in good quality for much less than your budget. In fact you can spend a small fraction of your budget and still get a good instrument. The consensus is that nowadays there's no such thing as a rubbish bass unless you really try hard to find one. If you're not totally sure and want to experiment consider second hand. BassChat has a For Sale section which is in fact like a lending libary. Basses go round and round, changing hands for about the same amount each time, so you never lose much. But as Greek says, expect well over a hundred replies with mostly conflicting advice, leaving you probably more confused at the end than you are now.

Fitted my sixer Groove nickel roundwounds today. No yellow silk! Probably just as well, would have looked a trifle naff on my rather yellow bass. Went on OK and had a quality feel and look to the winding. Playing impressions so far: more floppy than my previous La Bella RX nickel rounds, and slightly darker or more muffled in sound. I mostly do chordal work on my six string so this slightly muffled sound isn't ideal. But hey, I'm nuancing here and they've yet to bed in. So far I'd given them a **** out of 5 and look forward to seeing how they work out as time goes on. Not sure I'd buy them again at the moment, but time may change my mind.

Wonder where he's buying from. Amazing how 9 times out of 10 we're back to the Fender look. I cannot think of another product area where a single (and stylistically dated) design has been so enduring. And unlike more organic musical instruments its not as if function dictates form.

This. My MM P was possibly the best sounding and playing of my 40+ basses.

Sorry to be a total muppet but I'm not au fait with Instrugram. All I can find on his page is a series of 11 micro courses on right hand technique.

star m8... really appreciated

I suspect I may get sent to the headmaster for this but [whispers] I actually like the idea of bass as a melodic rather than a percussive instrument. So booked on Mark Smith's chords course at TalkingFace.net so I can do Ralph McTell impressions with me Hohner. Blimey, it was like being 16 again with the agony of soft flesh on guitar strings trying to bend my fingers into positions. Sevenths shapes aren't too bad but basic triads are a nightmare to achieve, esp on a six string bass with a wide fingerbored (sic). Not a 'I've got asthma and I've just developed a cough and fever' nightmare obv, but very, very painful by pre-Covid standards. Anyone got any advice other than 'practice for six hours a day and it'll come right eventually'.

I find lines confusing. Unlined for me with dots where the notes should be.

Now ordered a sixer set for my Hohner. May be a tad too yellow with yellow silks on a yellow wood bass.... But being a lover of all things MB I'm looking forward to getting these. And resisting the temptation to scrap the perfectly good and recently fitted La Bella nickels that are on there at the moment.

Scott Paddock makes a big thing of doing Skype lessons.

Head Return Day. Looking forward to the return of my 30 year old Ashdown 300 Evo II head from House of Ashdown, hopefully tomoz. Amazing customer service. Let's compare with my Markbass head I broke a while back. MB Q: Who can fix my LM2 head? A: You're 'aving a giraffe, int'ya? Ashdown Q: Can you fix my head? A: Certainly. The day after we get it we'll replace your fan, check everything else and in a friendly way guide you through how to use the EQ properly. Then we'll send it straight back and we won't charge you."

I've had similar recommended to me. But arent the Ibanez string spacings very close?

Nige has a lot of really useful stuff, if you can stand his style, which is purely a personal thing, obv. Be wary that with Nige its all about you opting out, not opting in. Think Scott Devine but Australian.

FWIW, my favourite online sax trainers are: Scott Paddock: free, YouTube videos. Nice, guy, very able, plenty of good stuff. No courses, just lots of free YouTube videos Jay Metcalf (Better Sax): some free content, courses cost money. He's all about playing by ear, not music. Ex tech, knows his gear. Videos are worth watching for his style. Nige McGill: some free content aimed to suck you into expensive paid content, very entrepreneurial over smooth even syrupy style which isn't everyone's cup of tea. But there's lots there if your pockets are deep. Saxophone studies: mostly paid for content. Weird, slightly creepy presenter. Useful stuff on a selection of basic numbers for the beginner.

According to top online tutor Scott Paddock, the way to tongue properly is curl your tongue over so the tip of your tongue goes down behind the teeth, and you close the reed with the arch of the tongue. Using the tip of your tongue to close the reed, or tapping the end of the reed, will get you nowhere, so he do say. Others disagree but Mr Paddock is a pretty awesome saxist so maybe he's worth listening to.

I own and heartily endorse the 940fl. Along with the Revelation P bass, which Stew has heartily endorsed. You see, far from a famine you have a feast of choice.

You need go no further than the Revelation. £199 new, better made than a Squier and awesome sound. Unlined of course. Buy from the Bass Gallery in London.

Revelation unlined fretless P bass. £199 new. Bass Gallery. https://thebassgallery.com/products/revelation-rpb-65-fretless , or search for the seperate thread on this subject currently developing elsewhere on here.

My understanding is that there is a high spitzensparken probability here. Most amps are rated at 4 ohm. They will take one 4 ohm cab or two 8 ohm cabs. Any more may impact your house fire insurance. But happy to be corrected.

He's just launched a chords course. He's currently offering 30% launch discount for just this week, so it's under £50 for the usual exhaustive treatment.

neh, it does. maybe I ought to build out the sides of the cab to match the head width. or stand the head on end.